OK, I’ll bite. I’m usually good at resisting the urge to pile onto the Brand pop culture news of the day (Cracker Barrel, Jaguar, Bud Light, et al) but this week’s Tylenol controversy is different. It’s not just a case of clumsy messaging or social media fallout - it’s a moment that could reshape consumer trust in one of the world’s most ubiquitous health brands.
There is a very real possibility that Tylenol enters the weekend ‘winning the argument’ about acetaminophen and autism but still losing because consumers (pregnant or otherwise) now think twice before using the brand. Bear with me as I wade through the politically charged factors to share 3 steps the Tylenol brand could take here.
Let’s start at the beginning. The President made the following verbatim statement yesterday in a press conference:
“Effective immediately, the FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of aceda...well let’s see how we say that... acedem... minophen... acetaminophen, is that ok? Which is basically commonly known as Tylenol, during pregnancy, can be associated with a very increased risk of autism. So taking Tylenol is uh, not good. Alright. I’ll say it. It’s not good.
For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary. That’s, for instance, in cases of extremely high fever, that you feel you can’t tough it out. You can’t do it. I guess there’s that. It’s a small number of cases I think. But if you can’t tough it out, if you can’t do it, that’s what you’re going to have to do. You’ll take a Tylenol but it’ll be very sparingly. Can be something that’s very dangerous to the woman’s health.”
Pundits on X were quick to mock the haphazard delivery, the lack of scientific support and the irony of a messenger who couldn’t serve his country due to painful bone spurs telling women to ‘tough it out’. Those rabbit holes get political, so let’s leave it at that.
There is nothing funny about this for the Tylenol brand, for other manufacturers of acetaminophen and for many of the +1B women who give birth each year and rely on this medication. What may be most troubling is how quickly this story could exit the news cycle, leaving a lasting doubt in consumer minds. On the Fox News app, for instance, the Tylenol story was no longer in the top 30 news articles just 12 hours after the news conference.
So, as Marketing interviewers will ask from now until the end of time, “how should the Tylenol brand team handle this situation?”
I think the solution has 3 steps:
1. Win the Medical Argument: In the Fox News article cited above, there is a statement from Kenvue strongly disagreeing with the administration’s assessment, noting that “we believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism.” However, the Kenvue quote is followed by a quote from the FDA Commissioner that “we now have data we cannot ignore”, citing 3 studies (Boston Birth Cohort, the Nurses Health Study and Mount Sinai-Harvard) that “have established a causal relationship between prenatal acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders of ADHD and autism spectrum disorder.”
In this instance, Kenvue lost the narrative. While the studies cited by the FDA Commissioner cite observational associations and urge further research, none establishes the causation between acetaminophen and autism that she claims. And larger studies like the Swedish JAMA study of 2.5M children in 2004 found no causation after controlling for familial/genetic factors. But this doesn’t matter if Kenvue’s PR team or leadership cannot assert their data-based evidence more prominently to take control of the medical narrative.
*FDA.gov, Sep-2025 **NIH.org, Apr-2024
2. Go on the Offensive: Whether or not you believe the people proclaiming associations between Tylenol and autism, they have faces. And that lends humanity and credibility to their argument – the President, the Secretary of HHS, the FDA Commissioner, even a TV doctor leading Medicare. So how should Kenvue respond?:
Identify the Face: Who is the face of Kenvue? When Tylenol faced their famous 1982 cyanide challenge, CEO James Burke and other executives personally addressed the public and media at a time when most corporations relied on written statements. Kenvue’s current CEO, Chief Medical Officer or a coalition of OB-GYN’s should be on camera as soon as possible.
Message Discipline: Kenvue's spokespeople must offset yesterday’s news cycle by hammering the same proof points to dispel the President & FDA Commissioner's narrative if they feel it is inaccurate.
Channel Choice: Kenvue must earn coverage to deliver their counter-message across the media & political spectrum to maximize awareness while the story is still fresh. This would include national and local TV, digital publications, medical associations and OB-GYN trade groups.
3. Rebalance Marketing Communications to anchor trust: Without knowing exactly how Tylenol prioritizes their messaging today, there appears to be a strong focus on the Fast & Powerful Relief benefit. The brand should find opportunities to prioritize the Safe & Effective benefit (e.g. #1 Doctor Recommended Brand) in the short to medium term to reinforce that Tylenol does not carry the risks that were communicated this week.
The team may even want to consider a bespoke ‘Safety’ communication lane to focus on their response to recent claims, citing credible evidence that Tylenol use is safe during pregnancy. Focusing more heavily on professional and trade endorsements, while aligning with independent voices like medical societies & National Institutes of Health may provide added benefit.
So what does a win look like?
Losing this fight doesn’t mean losing the debate among medical professionals (Tylenol already appears to have the upper hand). Tylenol will lose if consumers feel a fleeting doubt before reaching for Tylenol on the store shelf or medicine cabinet. That hesitancy can cost the brand tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars if safety concerns permeate the general population.
Because the Secretary of HHS said yesterday that the administration is "turning over every stone to identify the ideology of the autism epidemic” a win for Tylenol is a well-publicized consensus across the political spectrum that Tylenol isn’t to blame but that other stones remain unturned. Consumer attention will move on and focus on other potential culprits, but Tylenol will have managed the fallout as best they can.